Note: THIS IS LONG!
I just completed a trip to San Pedro, Belize and dove several days with Ecologic Divers from August 18 through August 29, 2012. I chose Ecologic because I dove with them during a previous trip and felt comfortable with them. Most of my days consisted of two tank dives so I’ll summarize those first.
For the two tank morning dives I showed up at the shop at 8:30am. The staff will ask you to set up your gear once. After that, they will take care of it for you on subsequent dives. I brought my own gear but you can also rent gear from the shop. After boarding the boat, the dive master would give a safety briefing. Each boat I was on had a first aid kit, oxygen, and VHF radio. A camera bucket was on board sometimes, but that was not consistent. We would then depart for the first dive site. Most sites were only five minutes away.
When we arrived at the site, the dive master provided a site-specific briefing. We always entered using a backroll entry and then waited until everyone was in the water before descending. The dives were listed as being 40 minutes. Divers with computers were told they could dive according to their computer but were asked to stay reasonably close to the group. Divers without computers were told to stay at the same level as the dive master or higher.
I’m going to digress for a bit. The 40 minute time was a concern for me and I mentioned this in a previous review. In retrospect, many of my dives were over 50 minutes. It really is a challenge for a shop to accommodate diverse skill sets. Each of my dives included a range of people from those who were new divers, to those who had not dived in a while, to very experienced divers. The dive masters would sometimes allow the divers who consumed less air to go down early if there was no current rather than waiting for the group. Also, if two dive masters were in the water, one dive master would stay down longer. So, overall I felt the shop did what it could to make my dives enjoyable.
At the end of each dive, you had the choice of taking off your BCD in the water or climbing up with it. Once on board, a crew member handed you a hot washcloth that was soaked with eucalyptus oil. That’s a nice treat after a dive. We returned to shop for the surface interval. There were chips, dip, fruit, and some beverages (coconut water or juice) waiting for us. The total surface intervals were 45 minutes to an hour. We repeated the procedure for the second dive. At the end of each day, the shop would rinse and store your BCD and regulator. You were asked to take any of your other personal items (masks, fins, snorkels, etc.).
In terms of fish life, I saw nurse sharks on many dives. There were several standard Caribbean fish such as snappers as well as rays, lobsters and some eels. I didn’t see the large numbers of fish that I’ve seen in other locations but it was very satisfying. There were definitely far more fish in the dive sites I saw coming back from the Blue Hole.
The highlight of the trip was going to the Blue Hole. I had been reluctant to do this because I wasn’t sure how I would do on a three hour boat ride. Since the seas were flat, I decided to go for it and I am glad I did. We had to meet at the shop between 5:30 and 5:45am. The shop provided cinnamon rolls and small sandwiches from Matthieu’s Deli (a relatively new place near Paradise Villas/The Phoenix/Blue Tang). We then started out for the Blue Hole and arrived at 9am. The boat is a good size. There is plenty of room to move around and it does have a marine head.
At the Blue Hole, we were given a thorough briefing. There are a lot of safety guidelines around this dive to minimize the chance of problems. We first descended to about 15 feet into a sandy area. This is a good chance to begin to equalize and make sure all your equipment is functioning properly. We then went down to approximately 130 feet for eight minutes. You can see all the stalactites and stalagmites. We saw some sharks down there as well. We were told to go no deeper than 130. One diver and his wife went down to 150 and were disoriented for a few minutes. The DM was rapping on his tank to get their attention and they came up. They also had a submerged tank in case a diver ran low on air (which did happen for a diver in our group). I know some people think that the Blue Hole is nothing special and a tourist trap, but I really enjoyed it. It is a very beautiful area in its own way. The camaraderie on the boat made it special as well.
After leaving the Blue Hole, we went over to Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter's comment] wall for a second dive. This was a beautiful wall. The visibility was stunning. The fish life was very healthy. After this dive, we went over to Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter's comment] itself which is a national park. The park has restrooms, a small gift shop, and several trails. One of the trails goes to a bird sanctuary. If you climb the observation tower, you can see hundreds of birds nesting in the trees. Ecologic provided a lunch that consisted of chicken, coleslaw, rice, cake, and drinks. It was a great lunch with more than enough food to go around. We had about an hour and half surface interval there.
We then left Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter] and went to the last dive site, the Aquarium. This was supposed to be the best dive but the sea had been stirred up and the visibility was subpar close to the surface. It improved when we got to the wall and went down deeper. We saw rays, eels, and pretty good fish life. After this dive, we began the trip back to San Pedro.
On the ride back, I had a chance to talk with a man who (along with his wife) was the actual owner of the shop. What a great man! He told me a lot about how important safety is to him and the shop and how the staff’s primary goal is making sure people have a safe and enjoyable time. No shop pleases everyone but I feel Ecologic does a great job in terms of customer management. We got back to San Pedro at 5:30pm. After I got back, I had dinner and then fell asleep. What a great day!
Lastly, I have a few words about the crew. The dive masters were very customer-centered and safety-conscious. Dimas, Roy, Shorty, and Clive were fantastic. These guys are fun to be with and made the time special. Shelly, Greg, and Berlioz are incredibly helpful as well. In terms of tips, I just paid the guys directly every few days. The shop also accepts credit cards (I believe MasterCard and Visa). I will definitely dive with them again.
I just completed a trip to San Pedro, Belize and dove several days with Ecologic Divers from August 18 through August 29, 2012. I chose Ecologic because I dove with them during a previous trip and felt comfortable with them. Most of my days consisted of two tank dives so I’ll summarize those first.
For the two tank morning dives I showed up at the shop at 8:30am. The staff will ask you to set up your gear once. After that, they will take care of it for you on subsequent dives. I brought my own gear but you can also rent gear from the shop. After boarding the boat, the dive master would give a safety briefing. Each boat I was on had a first aid kit, oxygen, and VHF radio. A camera bucket was on board sometimes, but that was not consistent. We would then depart for the first dive site. Most sites were only five minutes away.
When we arrived at the site, the dive master provided a site-specific briefing. We always entered using a backroll entry and then waited until everyone was in the water before descending. The dives were listed as being 40 minutes. Divers with computers were told they could dive according to their computer but were asked to stay reasonably close to the group. Divers without computers were told to stay at the same level as the dive master or higher.
I’m going to digress for a bit. The 40 minute time was a concern for me and I mentioned this in a previous review. In retrospect, many of my dives were over 50 minutes. It really is a challenge for a shop to accommodate diverse skill sets. Each of my dives included a range of people from those who were new divers, to those who had not dived in a while, to very experienced divers. The dive masters would sometimes allow the divers who consumed less air to go down early if there was no current rather than waiting for the group. Also, if two dive masters were in the water, one dive master would stay down longer. So, overall I felt the shop did what it could to make my dives enjoyable.
At the end of each dive, you had the choice of taking off your BCD in the water or climbing up with it. Once on board, a crew member handed you a hot washcloth that was soaked with eucalyptus oil. That’s a nice treat after a dive. We returned to shop for the surface interval. There were chips, dip, fruit, and some beverages (coconut water or juice) waiting for us. The total surface intervals were 45 minutes to an hour. We repeated the procedure for the second dive. At the end of each day, the shop would rinse and store your BCD and regulator. You were asked to take any of your other personal items (masks, fins, snorkels, etc.).
In terms of fish life, I saw nurse sharks on many dives. There were several standard Caribbean fish such as snappers as well as rays, lobsters and some eels. I didn’t see the large numbers of fish that I’ve seen in other locations but it was very satisfying. There were definitely far more fish in the dive sites I saw coming back from the Blue Hole.
The highlight of the trip was going to the Blue Hole. I had been reluctant to do this because I wasn’t sure how I would do on a three hour boat ride. Since the seas were flat, I decided to go for it and I am glad I did. We had to meet at the shop between 5:30 and 5:45am. The shop provided cinnamon rolls and small sandwiches from Matthieu’s Deli (a relatively new place near Paradise Villas/The Phoenix/Blue Tang). We then started out for the Blue Hole and arrived at 9am. The boat is a good size. There is plenty of room to move around and it does have a marine head.
At the Blue Hole, we were given a thorough briefing. There are a lot of safety guidelines around this dive to minimize the chance of problems. We first descended to about 15 feet into a sandy area. This is a good chance to begin to equalize and make sure all your equipment is functioning properly. We then went down to approximately 130 feet for eight minutes. You can see all the stalactites and stalagmites. We saw some sharks down there as well. We were told to go no deeper than 130. One diver and his wife went down to 150 and were disoriented for a few minutes. The DM was rapping on his tank to get their attention and they came up. They also had a submerged tank in case a diver ran low on air (which did happen for a diver in our group). I know some people think that the Blue Hole is nothing special and a tourist trap, but I really enjoyed it. It is a very beautiful area in its own way. The camaraderie on the boat made it special as well.
After leaving the Blue Hole, we went over to Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter's comment] wall for a second dive. This was a beautiful wall. The visibility was stunning. The fish life was very healthy. After this dive, we went over to Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter's comment] itself which is a national park. The park has restrooms, a small gift shop, and several trails. One of the trails goes to a bird sanctuary. If you climb the observation tower, you can see hundreds of birds nesting in the trees. Ecologic provided a lunch that consisted of chicken, coleslaw, rice, cake, and drinks. It was a great lunch with more than enough food to go around. We had about an hour and half surface interval there.
We then left Half Moon Caye [revised per Peter] and went to the last dive site, the Aquarium. This was supposed to be the best dive but the sea had been stirred up and the visibility was subpar close to the surface. It improved when we got to the wall and went down deeper. We saw rays, eels, and pretty good fish life. After this dive, we began the trip back to San Pedro.
On the ride back, I had a chance to talk with a man who (along with his wife) was the actual owner of the shop. What a great man! He told me a lot about how important safety is to him and the shop and how the staff’s primary goal is making sure people have a safe and enjoyable time. No shop pleases everyone but I feel Ecologic does a great job in terms of customer management. We got back to San Pedro at 5:30pm. After I got back, I had dinner and then fell asleep. What a great day!
Lastly, I have a few words about the crew. The dive masters were very customer-centered and safety-conscious. Dimas, Roy, Shorty, and Clive were fantastic. These guys are fun to be with and made the time special. Shelly, Greg, and Berlioz are incredibly helpful as well. In terms of tips, I just paid the guys directly every few days. The shop also accepts credit cards (I believe MasterCard and Visa). I will definitely dive with them again.
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